Hiked with Scott (climb14ers). Fun, quick scramble with unique views of the Cottonwood Ridge at this time of year. The north side was snow covered, and the south side was melted out with fall colors still present. It was a beautiful contrast of fall and winter split along the Cottonwood Ridge.

9/5/08- Climbed via the South Ridge with Matthew Van Horn. This has to be one of the best routes in the Wasatch. The exposure is great and the scrambling seems to never let up. There are a few tricky exposed moves, but the climbing is fairly easy all the way.

10/12/06- Climbed Superior and Monte Cristo with Mauraders from SP. This was a PERFECT day and we only saw one other person on the trail the whole hike..weekdays in the Wasatch are the way to go! The views from this peak are just incredible and I will try and come back and do this hike every year. There was some snow, but not much at all on the ridge and the scramble was enjoyable, although I did pull off a large rock that banged my shin pretty good.

As stated with Renogurt below, pretty much no visibility at the top, but still very fun. Lot's of cornices. Came back on Sept 3 2007 to do the South Ridge, very fun variation, wanted to continue on the Cottonwood Ridge west to peak 11,033, but it will have to wait until another time.

Started early, which treated us to some nice views of the rising sunlight on the Alpine Ridge (Pfeifferhorn looked really cool). A lot of fun scrambling, with a little exposure. We saw quite a few goats on neigboring ridges, and even heard a pack of coyotes howling (didn't know they were in this area). From the summit of Monte Cristo we could see the summit of every other 11,000 ft. peak in the Wasatch, except for Provo Peak. I was proud of my wife for being such a good trooper, since she has bad knees and this was the hardest hike (her first time scrambling as well) she had ever been on. See "Little Cottonwood Canyon Doubleheader" trip report for details.

5-8-07 What a fun snow climb. No trail past Lake Blanche, so we winged it, huggingthe east edges of the drainage, then attaining the Cottonwood Ridge 1/4 mile west of Superior's summit (between Monte Cristo and Superior). From the S-curve TH it was 10 miles R/T. My 3rd time at the summit but my first in snow. Brent and Lana were great companions on this climb. Topped out on Superior and Monte Cristo on 6-5-07, a very windy day. On top of both peaks on 7-3-07, as a part of a trip to the summit of Sundial and then much ridge scrambling! On top of Superior for a 6th time as part of doing the south Superior ridge from Snowbird - awesome ridge. #7 along with Monte Cristo for the final two peaks of the 12-hour Cottonwood Ridge run. Started at the S-curve TH and ended at Alta. Tremendous adventure, but not for timid souls. #8 on 9-27-07 as part of south ridge scramble w/ Judy, Lana & Christine (3 geo-caches found en route by Judy!). #9 on 11-6-07 with Dave, Lana, Christine & Anne from S-curve via Lake Blanche, Blanche Peak, Cottonwood Ridge to Monte Cristo and down the steep snow-covered headwall of Superior back to Lake Blanche and out. Fabulous. 10th time w/ Lana & Brent. 10+05 from S-curve TH to Sundial, Cottonwood Ridge, Monte Cristo, Superior and back to the saddle between the two for a snow descent and out via the lake. Beautiful wild flowers and diminishing cornices. #11 as part of my 2nd full Cottonwood Ridge run on 7-19-08. Hot day requiring much mental toughness. #12 on 5-19-09 w/ Dave & Christine. Attained the ridge via a steep snow chute on the east face of the ridge, then Superior & Monte Cristo and back with several long glissades on the north side of the ridge leading to Cardiff Pass. #13 12-1-09 via Cardiff Pass w/ Christine, Ryan, & ZeeJay. Not a lot of snow considering the date. 2+47 to Monte Cristo summit, 5+15 total time for r/t. #14 6-15-10 W/ mtngoat. Via the suicide chute, both peaks, 2+30 to Superior summit. Hard to believe we could do this chute in crampons so late in the season! #15 7-3-10 as part of Cottonwood Ridge run with WMC. #16 9-25-10 to Superior via South Ridge w/ Dave & JP. #17 4-24-12 W/ Dave via Suicide Chute. Superior only as snow was softening quickly. Return by dropping down into the Cardiff Fork (9,500') and regaining Cardiff Pass. #18 8-11-12 Got 'em both as a fitting end to the Cottonwood Ridge traverse with WMC. w/ Brad & Sam. Thanks to Dave who left us cold water on top of Blanche Peak today! IVD #19 3-19-14 From Alta. Super cold. SS to 10,500' then crampons. Got Superior but too dangerous to attempt MC. #20 8-16-14 via So Superior ridge w/ Dave & Brent.

7/12/08 - Bagged both peaks with friends John and Alex. Up and back via Cardiff.

7/29/06 - Climbed solo. Very fun scramble. I only made it to the first summit because thunderstorms were moving in and I’m not a fan of getting fried by lightning. I high tailed it out of there pretty quick and almost ran into a herd of mountain goats as I came around a corner.

I was blinded a few times by spindrift, and I inhaled the ice crystals once (ouch!). The steepest headwall on the route occurs about 200 ft after the crux pitch. This year it was steeper, creating a bulge as it was half corniced! I'd say it was 50-60o powder with a crust and fatal fall consequences.

Joe Bullough and I topped off the day with Monte Cristo and Mt Superior after climbing Storm Mtn, the BF Twins, Sunrise Pk and Mt Dromedary, which turned out to be a day with 9,000 ft of elevation gain! We descended to Cardiff Pass to get picked up and enjoy a good glass of lemonade :-D

Hit both summits. There was snow on the last ridge to Monte Cristo, and we were unsure about it at first glance, but upon reaching the highpoint inbetween the two peaks we saw that it was really easy to navigate around. If you find yourself looking at a snowy ridge from superior, take a closer look before letting it turn you back.